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Wednesday, 20 March 2013

The first day of spring marks the Iranian new year - the biggest celebration in Iran!

Sal-e now mobarak! Happy new year!

Today we are thinking about all those who continue to fight for their freedom, those who sit in Iranian prisons for raising their voices, demanding their rights, speaking up, doing their job, opposing the Islamic regime.We are thinking about all those that have been executed and are on death row, the slaughter of Iranian men and women continues.

So we are saying: Make it the year in which Iranians rid themselves of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Countless individuals face threats, imprisonment, and execution because of their criticism of religion and religious authorities. Blasphemy and Apostasy laws as well as uncodified rules imposed by both state and non-state actors aim primarily to restrict thought and expression and limit the rights of Muslims, ex-Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Such rules exist in a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere.

On 14 March 2012, we, the undersigned, are calling for simultaneous events and actions in defence of the critics of religion in order to highlight medieval laws and exert pressure to save the lives of the women and men facing execution, imprisonment or threats.

Whilst there are countless people awaiting punishment under these rules and regulations, we are highlighting ten such cases, namely:Hamza Kashgari, Saudi Arabia: 23 year old Muslim, charged with blasphemy for tweeting about Mohammad and women’s status (Petition here)Alex Aan, Indonesia: 30 year old atheist, charged with blasphemy for saying there is no god on FacebookAsia Bibi, Pakistan: 45 year old mother of five, sentenced to death for blasphemy for ‘insulting Mohammad’Yousef Nadarkhani, Iran: 34 year old sentenced to death for apostasy for converting to ChristianityNabil Karoui, Tunisia: charged with ‘violating sacred values’ for showing the film PersepolisSaeed Malekpour, Iran: sentenced to death for ‘insulting and desecrating Islam’Muhammad Samiullah, Pakistan: 17 year old, charged with blasphemy, for ‘derogatory remarks’ about Mohammad on his examsAdel Imam, Egypt: comic actor jailed for three months for ‘insulting Islam’Sarwar Penjweni, Iraqi Kurdistan: threatened for researching Islam and Quranic texts.Lanja Abdulla, Iraqi Kurdistan: Director of Warvin Foundation for Women Issues threatened at a public meeting for challenging religious authority
The success of this international day and the very lives of those it hopes to save depend on the intervention of each and every one of us.
We call on groups and individuals to take action on this day by organising a protest or vigil, setting up a table in a city centre, writing a letter, signing a petition, drawing a picture, taking a photo, making a video – anything at all – to highlight these medieval laws and rules, defend free expression and the women and men whose lives are at stake.
Your support, events and actions can be uploaded on our Facebook Pageor in the comments section below.

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Iran Solidarity supports the campaign to free Saudi columnist Hamza Kashgari who fears for his life.
Below is a petition text which you can sign here
You can join the FB group Free Hamza Kashgari here

On 12 February, Malaysian police deported 23 year old Saudi columnist Hamza Kashgari, who fled Saudi Arabia after making comments on Twitter claimed by some to be "insulting" to the prophet Muhammad. There have been widespread calls from Islamists for his execution; in Saudi Arabia, blasphemy is punishable by death.

Theocratic regimes like Saudi Arabia will not tolerate the most basic freedom of thought and expression. We defend the right of everyone in the world to freely express their views, including to criticise religion. We condemn the Malaysian government for detaining Kashgari who had fled the country and handing him over to the Saudi authorities. We are also concerned to learn of reports that INTERPOL may have promulgated a Saudi government warrant for his arrest. The implications of this mean that no asylum seeker or refugee is free from persecution even after having fled.

We demand that the Saudi authorities immediately and unconditionally release Kashgari. He has not committed any crime.

The rally in defence of freedom of expression last Saturday, 11th of February, was brilliant. Despite the chilly weather several hundred people attended, no doubt because of the great speakers that had been announced. The rally was organised by One Law for All and supported by us and numerous other organisations and individuals.

Have a look at some pics from the rally and you can listen to a complete audio recording of the rally on PODdelusion here.

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Iran Solidarity support the Freedom of Expression rally, organised by The One Law for All campaign this Saturday 11 February 2012 in London.
There will also be solidarity actions in various cities around the world to mark the day.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Critics of Islam, political activists and others are executed daily in Iran; in the first few days of 2012 the Islamic regime of Iran has ‘upgraded’ its body count to three per day. It is not enough to issue letters of protest. This regime must be diplomatically isolated internationally. Its representatives must be expelled from international assemblies. Its embassies must be shut down.

*****

On 11 January 2012 two youth were executed in Evin prison. One of them was identified as ‘Fazlollah’ for the crime described as rape; the other’s name was given as ‘Jalal’ and his crime was described as follows by the Islamic regime: “Jalal intended to marry a girl called Fariba, but he subsequently raped her, and because of this, Fariba committed suicide”. Today, Evin prison witnessed the execution of these two individuals. Of course, everybody knows that the Islamic regime’s courts are medieval and executions are political.

In order to subjugate people on the eve of every so-called election and in anticipation of any internal political tension, the Islamic regime cruelly sacrifices a number of individuals, hoping that this will silence everyone else.

The year 2012 began with more bloodletting because the Islamic regime is more beleaguered than ever and fears the people more than ever. Of course, the execution of these two youths in Evin prison on 11 January 2012 was not the first execution in Evin this year. In the first few days of the year, 22 people had secretly been executed there.

Together with the report of the two executions in Evin, we have received news that the Judiciary has condemned two Iranian-Afghan citizens to death in one of its courts of injustice. The execution of Iranian-Afghans and brutality towards them already figure prominently in the Islamic regime’s catalogue of crimes, and hundreds of Afghans have been secretly executed in Iran.

Of course, the execution of political activists is still on the Islamic regime’s agenda. Among the reports of the latest executions in Iran there is news of the plot against three Kurdish political activists who may well be condemned to death. Changiz Qadam Kheir, Shurosh Rezai and Fardin Farji, who were arrested in 2011 were framed and could now face death sentences. These three individuals, for your information, were forced with torture and intimidation to confess on Press TV. Press TV is the Islamic Republic’s television station based in London. It has been involved in obtaining forced confessions from others including the Iran stoning case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. It broadcast a programme featuring Sakineh and her son, promising them their freedom after incriminating themselves in this fabricated documentary. This television channel is an arm of the Islamic Republic’s intelligence apparatus and some of its journalists are professional interrogators of the Islamic regime.

Moreover, there are currently five people being investigated by the Islamic regime’s courts in a case known as ‘Heretics 3’; so far, two of them have been condemned to death. Vahid Asghari, aged 25, was condemned to death for maintaining a website against religion and Islam. Ahmadreza Hashempur was condemned to death for keeping an anti-religious and, according to the regime, “obscene” website. He is 40 years old and holds a doctorate. The death sentence was confirmed on appeal by the regime’s Supreme Court on 11 January 2012.

The Islamic regime has declared that these individuals’ websites were “obscene and anti-religious”. Saeid Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian citizen, was condemned to death earlier for the same crime, and his case is currently before the regime’s Supreme Court. Clearly, criticism of religion and Islam or maintaining a website can lead people to the gallows in Iran. Of course, according to Iranian law apostasy is punishable by death.

Ms Ashton!

I would like to inform you that Zaniar Moradi, a 21 year old youth who could be executed at any time, managed to send messages outside the prison pleading with the people of the world not to allow him to be killed. Please imagine how it might feel to be a 21-year-old boy who has spent the past two years in prison enduring the tortures and barbaric behaviour of a handful of murderers, and who, together with his cousin, could be executed at any moment. Zaniar is waiting for the world to protest against these crimes and atrocities. In a letter, Zaniar has described the torture methods and rape threats that have been used against him by the regime’s interrogators, and now at any time he could be executed in public along with his cousin, Loqman Moradi, aged 25. These two prisoners’ relatives have implored the people of the world to help to save their boys.

Another such case is the Islamic regime’s flagrant plot against Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an Iranian-American who is in imminent danger of having his death sentence carried out. Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an American of Iranian ancestry, was sentenced to death for ‘corruption on Earth’. His family says that this 25-year-old, who was born in America, had gone to Iran to visit his grandmother and is now in danger of execution. Apparently he too, like other prisoners, was tortured and forced to confess on television, similarly to Sakineh.

Please note the following execution statistics.

While in 2011 two people were executed per day, the regime has begun the year 2012 by executing three people per day. In the past ten days, reports regarding Iranian prisons have been as follows:

During the first days of 2012, Salah Rashidiyyeh was executed in Zanjan prison.

On Tuesday, 3 January, two people were executed in Arak prison.

On Wednesday, 4 January, five people were executed in Zanjan central prison. Their names were not revealed but their crimes were claimed to be drug-related.

On Wednesday, 4 January, one person was executed in Semnan prison.

On Thursday, 5 January, a 53-year-old prisoner named Nazar Ali Moradi was executed in Khorin prison, Varamin, for possession of 215 grammes of heroin and a kilogramme of opium.

At the same time, eight other people were executed in various Iranian prisons. Three were executed in public in Kermanshah. It was announced that these three, identified as Alireza Ahmadi, son of Khodadad, aged 48, Sadeq Eskandari, son of Vali, aged 33, and Sasan Basami, son of Jahangir, aged 36, had been condemned to death for “armed robbery of the Sepah Bank in Kermanshah” last August. The other five were hanged in the prisons of Kerman and Bam.

On Saturday, 7 January, one person was publicly executed in a village near Gachsaran.

On Wednesday, 11 January, two people were executed in Evin prison.

The real number of executions is greater, since some are carried out secretly. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has recently published information about the secret execution of hundreds of people in Vakil Abad prison, Mashhad, and revealed the names of 101 of them. These executions were collective, and the condemned were prevented from bidding their loved ones farewell. Only hours before their executions, they were instructed to write their wills and perform ritual ablutions. Their death certificates, with cause of death being ‘judicial killing’ were issued at times a day before their executions. This is the Islamic regime of Iran!

Last year, Amnesty International confirmed the execution of 252 people in Iran during the year 2011, and announced an additional 300 instances of secret execution on the basis of reliable reports.

Ms Ashton!

We agree that we are dealing with a regime which perpetrates crimes and atrocities and whose behaviour does not change even in response to letters of protest such as your own. This has been going on for many years.

The International Committee Against Execution is asking you to support a policy of isolating this regime, to initiate serious actions including the closure of the regime’s embassies in European countries to protest the executions of hundreds of Iranian dissidents, to give succour to those condemned to die and to the victims of the regime’s brutality, and to show that you are truly concerned with saving the lives of Zaniar and the critics of Islam and likewise with defending freedom of speech and the human dignity of individuals. We are asking you to show that your actions are not limited to sending the occasional letter of protest without great practical effect.

Saturday, 31 December 2011

Thanks to all of you you have called, faxed and emailed the Islamic regime's embassies and the regime in Tehran to protest at Sakineh's execution sentence and demanded her freedom. Keep it coming! It's important we keep up the pressure.

Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the justice chief for East Azarbaijan province, who had talked on Sunday, 25 December about Sakineh Ashtiani and her death sentence to Iranian media, now says that he has been ‘misquoted’.

"In recent days, reports quoting me on the case, especially... on the method of carrying out the sentence against Sakineh Ashtiani were published in abbreviated form and with an incorrect interpretation," he told Iranian media on Wednesday, 28 December.

Well, we are quite familiar by now with how quickly after an international outcry the Islamic regime’s authorities always fall back on ‘not having said this or that’, ‘misquotation’ and ‘wrong information’ in an attempt to deflect attention and outrage.

The facts I think speak for themselves.

Sakineh Ashtiani is still in prison awaiting her execution.

Houtan Kian, her lawyer, is still in prison.

Neither has committed a crime.

So unless Sakineh and Houtan are out of prison, safe and secure, we haven’t understood anything wrong.

Two days after Malek Azhdar Sharifi, head of the East Azerbayjan branch of the regime’s judicial system, spoke of the possible execution of Sakineh, because of international pressure and the swift appearance of this news in the international media, he corrected his statements and said they had been misrepresented. Nevertheless, according to information received by the International Committee Against Stoning, even Sakineh herself was informed in prison of the possibility of her execution.

Despite the Christmas and New Year holidays, the news of Sakineh's possible execution has appeared in many news outlets including CNN, BBC, Al-Arabiyyah, Der Spiegel, and the Italian press as well as many others. The authorities of several governments including those of Germany and France have protested to Iran, demanding Sakineh's release. In Italy, the mayors of Rome, Florence and a number of other cities have announced that they will rise in defence of Sakineh in collaboration with the International Committee Against Stoning. These protests were covered extensively by the Italian media. Other efforts are also under way in more countries. Human-rights officials in the Brazilian government have contacted the International Committee Against Stoning in order to organise protests against the Islamic Republic after gathering additional information. The authorities of the Islamic Republic have realised that Sakineh has not been forgotten and that killing her will have a high political cost for the villainous Islamic regime.

According to other reports, Houtan Kian, condemned to six years in prison and currently incarcerated in a prison ward reserved for methadone users, has no opportunity to contact anyone outside the jail and is denied family visits. We must also not abandon him.

The Islamic Republic is clearly a murderous regime, and while Sakineh remains its prisoner, she could be executed at any moment. However, with the help of people around the world, Sakineh and Houtan can be delivered from the hands of these Islamic torturers and murderers.

The International Committee Against Stoning asks the noble people of the world, as well as the press, governments and human-rights organisations, to exert pressure in any way they can in pursuit of Sakineh and Houtan's release by the Islamic Republic.

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Two weeks ago we wrote about Rashid S. who had thrown his shoe at Ahmadinejad in an act of civil disobedience and disgust over his unemployment and the fact that he had not been paid by his employer for the last year he had been working. According to news reports, Rashid Shahbandi had been arrested, has been tortured and is very likely facing execution.

There is no doubt that he will not get a fair trial, if he gets one at all. It will probably be one of those show trials the Islamic regime likes to put on, thinking that there are actually people out there believing that ‘justice’ is being done… when all that is happening is that the Islamic regime is trying to keep its power by spreading and inflicting more violence and more terror.

Throwing your shoe at a leader of a dictatorial regime is nothing but couragous. We can only imagine under what pressure people like Mr Shahbandi must live to lose their fear of confronting their oppressor. No doubt the regime will try to hand down a heavy sentence to deter others from showing and voicing their anger. But it is too late for that. It was too late for that a long time ago.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

The Islamic regime of Iran is talking about changing Sakineh's sentence of stoning to hanging and to execute her once they get the go-ahead from the Ministry of Justice.

You can do something!

It is important that we let the Iranian regime know that the world stands in support of Sakineh. It is important that as many people as possible let the Islamic regime know that we are outraged at Sakineh's execution sentence. Tell them that we want her freed NOW! The worldwide outrage and protest is what kept Sakineh alive. It is vital that we continue our protest. Flood the embassies and the Islamic regime's offices with protest letters, emails, faxes and calls.

At the top of our blog you find the contact list for the embassies of the Islamic Republic across the world. Email, fax and call them. You can organise a protest outside the IRI embassy in your country. It's very effective! Invite your friends, publish it on social media site and invite the media.

Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of East Azerbaijan province’s justice department, has announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran is considering changing Sakineh Mohamadi Ashtiani’s stoning sentence to execution by hanging and said that they are waiting for the go-ahead from the Ministry of Justice to execute Sakineh.

Clearly, the regime has been unable to stone Sakineh to death because of the global outrage. The regime arrested her lawyer and son and forced her and her son to ‘confess’ on Press TV and incriminate themselves. They have been barred from contacting international institutions.

By planning to execute Sakineh, the Islamic regime is trying to show the world that despite public outrage, it will continue its execution machinery in order to ensure its survival.

The International Committee against Stoning declares:

This is a shameless attempt by the regime and its criminal judicial system to test the reaction of world public opinion in order to create the groundwork for Sakineh’s murder.

Sakineh’s image has become a global symbol against stoning and Sharia laws. The world has risen up in defence of Sakineh and declared it would not ever allow sadists and murderers to stone women and men to death again. By executing Sakineh, the Islamic regime wants to destroy all efforts in her support.

Every year during the New Year period the Islamic regime tries to kill-off well-known cases. Last year it executed Shahla Jahed and this year they are trying to murder Sakineh.

The International Committee against Stoning will not allow Sakineh to be executed. All people and organisations that have stood up before to save Sakineh from death by stoning must once again stand up to help save Sakineh’s life.

Sunday, 25 December 2011

Today the Islamic regime of Iran announced that their 'experts' are studying whether they can hang Sakineh Ashtiani instead of stoning her to death. There is no doubt that this comes in an attempt by the Islamic regime to affirm their 'authority' in the face of worldwide protests and recent tit for tats with the West while at the same time finding a more 'acceptable' solution for murdering her. Possibly a solution that would face less resistance by the world? Does the Islamic regime think that hanging Sakineh Ashtiani would be somehow more acceptable to the world that cried out in protest at her stoning sentence???? NO it wouldn't!

ISNA news agency reported today that Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of the East Azerbaijan province justice department, where Ashtiani is jailed said that "As soon as the result (of the investigation) is obtained, we will carry out the sentence."

The Islamic regime is trying to murder yet another innocent woman.
There is only one solution.
Sakineh Ashitiani must be freed immediately!

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Rashid S., a recently sacked textile worker in his 40s, threw his shoe at Ahmadinejad at a meeting in the northern province of Mazandaran on Tuesday, 13 December. Rashid S. was protesting the fact that he had been sacked, but more importantly that he had not been paid for the last year of working in the factory.

This is of course is common practice in Iran. There are thousands upon thousands of workers in Iran who do their daily work without being paid for it by the state or private owners for months on end.

You might ask why they keep working? They hope they will get paid in the future as promised by their bosses and more importantly, there is no other work around, neither is there unemployment benefit. That of course under a regime that made 40 billion US Dollars between March and August this year alone from oil exports. The same regime whose members are transferring their 'accumulated' monies abroad, especially through their family members. High on the list are investments like the purchase of expensive properties (they can afford it of course) which guarantees few questions and a preferential residential status by the host country; the higher the investment the warmer the welcome. And with all the riches that are to be made exploiting Iran's natural resources and the labour force, a warm welcome they get.

Rashid S. missed. He was thrown to the floor and beaten up. It is unclear whether he was arrested and taken away. His act of civil outrage is to be applauded.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Wednesday, 30 November saw the closure of the Islamic regime of Iran's embassy in London on the orders of the foreign secretary William Hague. This came in response to the attacks on the British embassy in Tehran by members of the government-backed Basij militia that happened on Tuesday, 29 November. We are now seeing the last of the Iranian diplomats leave the UK.

Iran Solidarity welcomes the closure of the embassy in London.
And we are actively supporting the closure of ALL the Islamic regime's embassies around the world. We counted 97, so 96 to go!

We have long been calling for the diplomatic isolation of the Iranian regime and the closure of ALL of its embassies are part of this. Diplomatic and political isolation of the regime are the cornerstones of support for the Iranian people's struggle to get rid of the Islamic Republic. It is unfortunate however that this important step comes only now after a tit for tat over sanctions in regards to the nuclear issue and the attack on the British embassy in Tehran; decades of hideous crimes against Iranians have provoked no such reaction by foreign governments.

The embassies of the Islamic regime are an outpost of the terror that sits in Tehran.

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

One Law for All will host a seminar to explore the terms of the Children Act and whether these are compatible with the tenets and practice of sharia law. It will look at the protections provided to children by the provisions of the Children Act and ask if children in Britain, by virtue of their parents’ religion or culture, are at risk of being denied these protections. In addition, One Law for All will provide information on Catholic Canon Law and how this has been used to facilitate the continued abuse of children in Catholic institutions.

A group of women in Iran has initiated the 5x5 campaign, starting this week.
On panj-shanbe (meaning the 5th shanbe in the Iranian week, Thursday) at 5 pm they are urging women to take off their veil for 5 seconds in the street. This call has been circulated in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Shiraz. We will keep you updated on 5x5.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Every workers protest is very important, because it is a group that organizes itself because it isn’t satisfied, and this is the exact reason they are protesting.But it’s very difficult to do this under a dictatorship.It becomes impossible.

In Brazil, at the end of the 1970s, more or less during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Brazil was under a dictatorship, but in the metallurgical unions of the countryside in the ABC Region (a large industrial region in the state of Sao Paulo) led a big movement in which it stopped sixty or eighty thousand workers, who halted their activities, and didn’t produce one single car, they produced nothing in this region, and it was a big problem for the government, a serious problem.The workers actually brought the industry to a halt.The government needed to cede, and ended up giving money to the companies to pay the costs of the workers, they gave a part of the pay raise the workers were asking for, and the workers won many important battles.

Today, the Brazilian worker has more rights and privileges and has won more battles thanks to these metallurgical protests in the ABC Region.In Iran, I think it’s hard, it’s very hard.I think that the Iranian union oil workers, they have problems.The dictatorship is so rigid and strong, and I am afraid that they won’t manage to get their rights.I want that workers manage to get their rights in all parts of the world.Outside of Brazil, what can I do, I can spread the words of solidarity.I am in solidarity with Iranian workers.People who work and produce need dignity, a good home, the family has to live well, it’s a question of quality of life, if you work, you have to have a fair exchange, you have to have a decent salary.In the 1970s/1980s, here in Sao Paulo when there were the big metallurgical union movements in the ABC Region, a good part of the workers were living in favelas (slums), people ate poorly, they had a poor quality of life.Today,most metallurgical workers live with dignity.

On 5 and 6 Nov, Jamal Saberi, Worker-communist Party of Iran's cadre and an activist of the "Free Jailed Workers Campaign", will be speaking at the Railway Union meeting. Labour union representatives from Brazil, USA and South Korea will be present in the meeting, and the topic of the meeting is jailed workers in Iran.

GREECE

Athens

Time: Saturday 5th November, 5 pm

Place: Athens Polytechnic in Patission Street

Contact: Naser Aghbashloo 00306957954975

DENMARK

Copenhagen

Time: Saturday 5th November, 2-3 pm

Place: In front of the Embassy of Islamic Republic

Engskiftevej 6 - 2100 København

TURKEY

Ankara

Time: Saturday 5th November, 2-4 pm

Place: At 14:00 hours we will gather in Kugulu Park (Swan Park) and then we will start our march towards Tehran Street in front of the Embassy of Islamic Republic